SCP: Transferring files in Linux

How to send a file with scp in Linux

Suppose you need to send the file big_file to a remote host with the IP 192.168.0.2 and put it in your home directory.

On the remote host you have the user andrei and you know their password

scp big_file andrei@192.168.0.2:/home/andrei

How to download a directory with scp in Linux

To send not a single file but a directory with all its nested files use the -r option

scp -r directory andrei@192.168.0.2:/home/andrei

How to download a file with scp in Linux

Suppose you need to download the file p_script.py from the Downloads folder from the remote host (192.168.0.2) and put it into the current directory on your machine.

On the remote host you have the user andrei and you know their password

scp andrei@192.168.56.2:/home/andrei/Downloads/p_script.py ./

Note the ./ at the end - it tells which directory on your host the file should be saved to.

Article author: Andrei Olegovich